Ask Her
by enchanted-nova
Summary: Natsu knows it shouldn't be this hard to ask a girl out, but this isn't just any girl. It's Lucy Heartfilia, his best friend, he can't just ask her out...well, unless Gray is involved.


**Author's Note: **So a couple of weeks I asked on a poll what you guys who you wanted a one-shot on. NaLu had one, so here it is. I'm sorry it took me so long to get it posted. Got busy with **Heart by Heart **&amp; **Dirty Love**, if you haven't checked either of those stories please do. And enjoy this cute little one shot about Natsu and Lucy.

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**Ask Her**

They were in a parking lot just outside of her apartment complex, and they had been there for nearly two hours now. Not much had been done, they had just been sitting in the car talking. It was currently 10:00pm and the clock was only going to keep moving forward. Needless to say, Gray Fullbuster was extremely irritated with his pink haired friend, Natsu Dragneel. A couple of hours ago, Natsu had courage, he had spunk, and now he had turned into a tongue tied, nervous schmuck. It made Gray almost want to gag because Natsu had played over his speech a million times already and he still felt like he couldn't say it. Gray wanted to be there for his friend, he really did. They were best friends, and had been since they were in the third grade. At the current moment though, all Gray Fullbuster wanted to do was throw Natsu out of his car and force him to ring the doorbell of the lovely Lucy Heartfilia.

"Natsu it's been two hours. Just go up there," Gray said, gripping the black vinyl material of his steering wheel. He was wearing a black leather jacket and a blue t-shirt underneath with black jeans. They were supposed to be out having some drinks with friends, but Natsu had started talking about how he felt like he wanted to ask Lucy out on a date. In that moment, Gray had stopped the car and asked if he was serious. Natsu had sworn that he was, so Gray drove straight to Lucy's apartment and nothing had happened since they arrived. "What's the worst she can do? Reject you?"

"Yes!" Natsu barked as he stared up at the apartment complex. Her door way approximately twenty steps away from them. He could see her door, he knew it was her door due to the girly, frilly wreath made of ribbon. "I know I'm being a coward, but it's Lucy."

Gray rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "You can do this, Natsu. Lucy and you have been friends forever, just do it." He looked at his friend in the seat next to him and smiled weakly.

"Exactly," Natsu replied firmly. "We've been friends since freshman year. If I tell her I want to take her out on an actual date, I can ruin it forever." He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily. Natsu knew he was being a completely and total chicken, but he was weighing out his options. Earlier when it was all just theory it was easy, but now that it was actually happening, he wanted to crawl under a rock and hide forever.

"You're being a baby," Gray said with a chuckle. He sympathized with his friend, he really did, but Gray knew that they were going to work. Everyone knew they would be together, get married, have kids, and live the whole happy life. "Lucy loves you, and she will be so excited you finally grew the balls to ask her on an actual date. So stop being a baby and chicken and get up there." Gray reached over and pushed open the passenger side door.

Natsu shook his head. "Nope, I can't let's just go home." He shook his head and pulled the door close. The pink haired teen went for the keys in the ignition, but Gray slapped his hand away.

"Go, you coward!" Gray snapped and waved Natsu off. The pink haired teen could see that Gray wasn't going to drive him away until he went to talk to Lucy. The beautiful blonde he had fallen in love with. Sighing heavily, Natsu nodded his head and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Just stay calm, you're asking her on a date. Not to marry you." Gray gave him a thumbs up, and Natsu scoffed as he opened up the door of the car. When he was out, he looked at Lucy's door and swallowed hard.

"Right," Natsu said with a single nod. "I can do this." The fear started to grow again, so he looked back to Gray. He snapped his fingers and pointed to the apartment building. Gray knew that Natsu's heart was fragile, but he was still pushing him to go. After what happened with his last girlfriend, Natsu figured Gray would have been easier going about this. Maybe it was time he took that leap of faith though, Lucy was a great girl. He just needed to ask her, he needed to go right up to her door and ask her.

He could feel his cheeks turning red, his heart was pounding against his chest, and his palms were getting all sweaty and clammy. His feet were moving forward, but his head was telling him run back to the car. Gray wasn't going to let him just get back in the car. According to Gajeel, Gray had kind of done the same thing to him when it came to Lucy's best friend Levy McGarden. It had worked out for Gajeel and Levy though, and they were just like Lucy and Natsu before they started dating. Maybe it would be the same thing for him and Lucy.

The journey seemed like a thousand miles, but it was a mere twenty steps. Natsu stood five steps away from the door, staring at it like a weirdo. His eyes drifted over to Gray in the car, who was gesturing for him to go up to the door and knock. Natsu was starting to wish it was someone else in the car instead of Gray. If Natsu didn't go knock on the door, he knew Gray would get out of the car, knock for him, and do a tuck and roll into the bushes.

Biting his lip, Natsu took a few steps closer. There he was at her door, his hands at his side, and his heart was quite literally about to burst from his chest. Natsu had no idea why he was so nervous, Lucy was a nice girl and very beautiful, funny, charming, and all those qualities that he liked. She was passionate about everything she did, she had a lot of heart. Asking her out should have been easy, but it wasn't at all.

Natsu's blood was pulsing, he could hear it and feel it rushing through his veins. Just as he lifted his hand to knock on the door, he froze. Just on the other side of the door, Natsu could hear her laughing. The sound of her laugh was delightful, it made his heart flutter. To Gray, he must have looked crazy since he was unmoving like a statue. For some reason, Natsu couldn't bring myself to move. His hand was mere inches from the door, a few simple movements and he would get Lucy's attention.

"Natsu! Before Christmas please!" Gray hollered from the car. Natsu jumped and whipped around, seeing Gray hanging halfway out the window with his hands going around his mouth.

Natsu looked at Gray for a moment before shaking his head and looking back at the door. There before him was Lucy's apartment door with her girly wreath. He let out a breath and lifted his hand again. Natsu knocked on the door and felt his heart skip a beat. "Oh shit," he breathed once it sank in that he had just knocked on the door. "Oh shit, oh shit," he repeated over and over. Natsu was about to turn and runaway, but the sound of the door lock clicking caught his attention. He froze in place and bit his lip as the door slowly came open.

There she was standing in the middle of the door in her cute pajamas with her hair framing her face. Her brows furrowed together in confusion as she saw Natsu standing in front of her. He was dressed up in dark washed jeans and a dark red button down with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. It was the first Saturday of the month, meaning that it was Boy's Night. Natsu and all the boys got together and went to do guy things.

"Natsu?" Lucy questioned. "What do you want?"

"I uh..." Natsu trailed, but stop when Lucy chuckled a bit and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I just heard myself," Lucy explained with a wave of her manicured hand. "That was really rude, but it's like past ten and the first Saturday of the month...isn't it Boy's Night?" She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the door jamb.

"It is," Natsu answered with a small nod. "It's just that...I uh, well...I..." he fumbled over his words, getting all tongue tied and flustered. He just couldn't seem to find the right words, he didn't know how to ask Lucy on a date. All he needed to do was ask her, but he couldn't do it. And he had no idea why.

"You okay? Drunk? Sick?" Lucy asked with a raised brow. "You're looking a little red."

"I'm fine," he croaked out and quickly cleared his throat. Lucy smiled weakly and nodded stiffly, not sure if she really believed him. She'd known Natsu for several years now and it wasn't like him to show up at her doorstep in the middle of the night all tongue tied and nervous. He looked sweaty though and like he was about to pass out.

"You sure? Do you wanna come in and sit down?" Lucy stepped back and gestured to her couch that was right next to the door and flushed up against the wall, facing a TV on the other side of the room. "I can get you some water." She was about to walk away, but Natsu stopped her.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sorry...you know, for just showing up here," Natsu explained as he rubbed the back of his neck. He felt so stupid, Lucy was one of his best friends. "I came here to...uh...talk and stuff."

"Talk...and stuff?" Lucy repeated with a small chuckle.

"Yeah," Natsu said with a smile.

"Okay, what about?" she asked, smiling at him. Natsu bet she could sense his nervousness. Suddenly his phone started going off in his pants pocket. Jumping a bit, Natsu pulled out his phone to glance at the screen. "Is that Gray in the car? Is he texting you?" she asked, her eyes locked on the car.

"I...I..." Natsu stammered as he stared at his phone screen, wanting to fall into the bushes and die.

"Hello Gray! How are you?" she called out, waving her arms in the air. Yep, Natsu just wanted to run away. He sighed and looked at his phone to see the message, in big bold letters it read, ASK HER OUT DAMNIT! Oh and tell her I said hi.

Natsu wanted to slap himself.

"Did you guys want to hang out or something? I actually just baked some cookies, new recipe. It's delicious," Lucy promised with a wink, which made Natsu bit his lip. She was so cute and beautiful, he just wanted to hug her and cuddle with her all night long.

"No, no," Natsu answered, shaking his head.

"Okay...then why are you here?" Lucy asked, completely lost. If they didn't want to hang out and didn't want to have her cookies, she didn't know what they would want. "I mean I know you said talk and stuff, but I would rather do that inside." She gestured to her quaint and cozy apartment.

"It won't take long," Natsu said, so Lucy waited.

And waited...

And waited.

"Okay, just whatever you need, I'll be right here." She pointed to her couch and wondered back into her apartment. Natsu watched her sit down, and swallowed hard. He could smell her cookies, they made his mouth water. Moments later, he heard her munching on them.

His phone buzzed again and he pulled it out. On the screen, Gray's name flashed. Natsu hit the answer button and put it to his ear. "Seriously, this is embarrassing!" Scoffing, Natsu quickly hung up his phone and shoved it into his pocket.

"Luce," he began, but his voice cracked a bit.

She looked at him and laughed lightly. "Would you like some water, Natsu?" Lucy brushed her hair behind her ear and tilted her head cutely. Natsu just wanted to grab the door and pull it close.

"Can I shut the door?" he asked quietly, twiddling his thumbs around.

"You want to close the door?" she asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yep," Natsu replied shortly with a nod, causing Lucy to blink several times. He realized it would be the most ridiculous way to ask a girl out, but he couldn't get the words out. If the door was closed, he assumed it would be easier.

"O...Okay," Lucy said and stood up from the couch. "Are you just going to stand out there?" she asked him.

"Yes, well I mean..." Natsu was opening and closing of my mouth like a fish out of water. Gray was probably slamming his head into the dashboard by now. They had practiced this, he had no idea why this was so damn hard. Maybe it was the fact that Natsu was scared of rejection. This girl was everything he wanted in a girl: beautiful, smart, funny, charming, long hair, glittering eyes, perfect skin, and compassionate.

"I'll shut the door then," Lucy told him as she closed the door. When it closed, Lucy stared at it for a moment and waited for Natsu to say something.

Just as he assumed, it suddenly became a little easier. He didn't feel the weight of the world on his shoulders anymore, some of his confidence was coming back to him. Natsu stared at the door and clapped his hands together before taking a step closer.

"Will you go out with me, Lucy Heartfilia?" Natsu asked her in a loud, firm voice. Lucy probably thought he was a totally different person, since he finally spoke like a normal human being since he first arrived in front of her door.

"What was that?" Lucy asked through the door.

"I want you to go out on a date with me. A real date," Natsu told her. "Go out with me, Luce." His heart was pounding hard in his chest, hoping that Lucy would say yes to him. As he was waiting for her answer, it felt like an eternity was sailing by.

"Can I open the door now?" she inquired.

"May I open the door now?" she asked me.

"Yeah, go ahead," Natsu replied with a nod. The door came open and Lucy was standing there with a funny look on her face. Not that he could blame her, he did seem like an idiot asking her out through a door in the middle of the night. Rejection seemed imminent now. "So uh…" he trailed off, looking up at Lucy then back down to the ground.

"You came here at 10:30 with Gray to ask me out through a door?" she asked, trying to fight her urge to smile, he could tell by the corners of her mouth twitching.

"I know, it's really pathetic," Natsu mumbled, letting his head fall between his shoulders. He didn't think he could even look at her. Suddenly, Lucy burst out into a fit of laughter. It was very embarrassing and Natsu just wanted to disappear into thin air. "I'll take that as a no…" Natsu sighed in defeat about to walk away. He was going to kill Gray for making him do that.

"Oh no! Don't go, I'm sorry," she called out, grabbing his forearm. Natsu stopped and looked over at her, she had a genuine smile on her face. "Natsu you're the dorkiest, craziest, and greatest guy I know. I would be honored to go on a date with you." She let go of his arm and nodded to him.

"Really?" he asked in total surprise.

"Yes, you're a great guy. I'm a lucky girl," Lucy smiled brightly, making him want to run up to her and sweep her off her feet. "I was kind of hoping you'd notice me eventually…for a long time now." She shrugged her shoulders, and he felt his heart skip a beat, she wanted him to ask her out. Him! Natsu!

"Would it be too much if I hugged you right now?" he asked her.

She shook her head and opened up her arms to him. Natsu grabbed her hands and pulled her into him. She laughed a bit and hugged Natsu back tightly. After a few moments, they pulled apart and she smiled up at him. Call Natsu crazy, but he leaned forward and pressed his lips onto hers. It felt so right to him. In that moment, Natsu began to wonder what the heck he was waiting for? Why hadn't they been doing this from the start?

Lucy kissed back, but after a few seconds, she pulled away and looked up at him. Her face was very, very red. He stared at her, watching her eyes stare right back into his own.

"That may have been too much, Mr. Dragneel," she whispered to Natsu as she got on her tip-toes and pressed her lips back against his. They slowly pulled apart, her eyes were still closed when he opened his. Smiling down at her, Natsu brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Lucy opened her eyes and looked up at Natsu, giggling a bit. "Tomorrow, seven o'clock."

"I'll be waiting outside your door," he told her, pressing his lips against hers just one more time.


End file.
